1985 FA Cup Final
The 1985 FA Cup Final was contested by Manchester United and holders Everton at Wembley Stadium. United won by a single goal, scored in extra time by Norman Whiteside when he curled the ball into the net past the reach of Neville Southall after a run from the right. Late in the second half, Kevin Moran of Manchester United was sent off for a professional foul on Peter Reid, who was clean through on goal. He became the first player to be dismissed in an FA Cup Final. TV cameras revealed that he had gone for the ball, and not for Peter Reid in the offending tackle. He was later presented with the winner's medal that had at first been withheld. Had Everton won the match they would have completed an unprecedented Treble of League, FA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup. All of Manchester United's players (including the substitute who played) had been capped at full international level, making them the first FA Cup winning team to consist entirely of players who had gained full international recognition. However, United were unable to compete in the following season's Cup Winner's Cup, as all English clubs were subsequently banned from European competitions indefinitely two weeks later as a sequel to the Heysel disaster on 29 May 1985, in which rioting by Liverpool and Juventus fans at the European Cup final resulted in the death of 39 spectators. Everton had just won the Cup Winners' Cup as well as the league title, and so would have competed in the 1985–86 European Cup had it not been for the ban. Eight of United's starting 11 players had been members of the cup winning side from two years earlier, while Arthur Albiston was the only remaining player from the FA Cup winning side of 1977 still in the team. However, when United next won the trophy five years later, Mark Hughes and Bryan Robson were the only players from the 1985 side to feature in the winning team. Both had gone by the start of the 1995-96 season. Everton's last remaining player from the game was Neville Southall, who stayed with them until 1998 and helped them win a league title in 1987 and the FA Cup in 1995. Everton held the double Everton claimed the crown to the 1984/85 league championship one week before the FA Cup Final against Manchester United. The fact that Everton were also defending champions of the FA Cup (having won it in 1984 v Watford), it meant that for one week, Everton held the League and FA Cup double, albeit not won the same season. Match details | time = 15:00 BST | team1 = Everton | team2 = Manchester United | score = 0–1 | aet = yes | goals2 = Whiteside | stadium = Wembley Stadium, London | attendance = 100,000 | referee = Peter Willis (County Durham) | report = Report | penalties1 = | penaltyscore = | penalties2 = }} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| |} External links *1985 FA Cup Final at Soccerbase Category:FA Cup Finals Category:1984–85 in English football